Engineered
by Convergence-Eternal
Summary: A short story that follow's three Original Character Sailors who visit Crystal Tokyo. There's a beach party scene.
1. Welcome to the show!

Being a sailor is never easy. Growing up in a hostile galaxy isn't either. Being a sailor in a hostile galaxy is enough to make any one a little unhinged. But nothing hurts in that special way quite like negotiations with crystal Tokyo.

Currently Queen Serenity exerted influence over most of the known galaxy. However as one neared the very edges of conventional human expansion her grasp started to slip.

Sailors are unstoppable. They can travel anywhere, defeat any enemy, but in the end they are not without number. A human auxiliary force was needed to help secure any ground the sailors took and the inventions of Sailor Mercury could only take humans so far.

There were of course humans past this invisible line. In this area of space sailor scouts were far and wide between. Those that did exist came from very very different cultures.

They were certainly brave. No question about that. But the people of crystal tokyo thought they lacked a certain something. Like civility or manners, or sanity. At least one of those three.

To make a long story short Sailor Miranda had been tasked with bringing these border worlds back under control. So she called all the sailors of that system together for a team pep talk. Two showed up and four didn't send her death threats.

"Ah, Sailor Nunatak and Sailor Hitokiri. So nice to see you both"

Lies, that was a lie. Miranda never quite got over her fear of the Nunatak. Their blue eyes reminded her of an apex predator from her own home world. Their extra pair of Canines didn't help matters much. Especially if one knew how exactly this sub branch of humanity supplemented their diet.

Then there was Hitokiri. The abomination, the outcast, and undeniable proof that the galaxy was still a very dangerous place. Truth be told Miranda wasn't even sure whether or not Hitokiri had a true star seed. All she knew was that both her and Sailor Nunatak were technically part of Crystal Tokyo's sphere of influence. So killing them just wasn't an option.

"I brought you here today in good faith so that we can all learn to live together in harmony."

"What kind of harmony?", asked sailor Nunatak.

"A type of harmony that doesn't include eating any non human sentient that is stranded on our planet"

Nunatak smiled sheepishly at this. Either the cleansing property of her transformation wasn't working or she must have eaten after transforming. Because Miranda could still see bits of an unfortunate something stuck in her rather sharp blood stained teeth.

Hitikori stepped forward with a small paper bag, "Are you going to need this Miranda?"

"No, no I'm fine. Just a bit teleport lagged from earlier this morning is all. I'll be right as rain in a minute"

Miranda took several deep breaths and opened her mouth, then her communicator rang.

"Terribly sorry about this", she told the two other scouts as she flipped the device open.

"Sailor Miranda here, what can I do for you"

"I'd like for you to report back to earth immediately"

"Will do, but what about the negotiations?"

"Bring them too"

"Roger"

Miranda flipped the device closed.

" I hope you two wouldn't mind lending me a bit of energy for a teleport"

Nunatak just shrugged and started feeding her dark energy. Hitikori bowed apologetically and started to look depressed. Miranda knew something like this would happen. Its a good thing her brooch could convert dark energy. The process wasn't very efficient of course. But it got the job done.

"Ok, thats enough Nunatak"

"Your star seed sure is thirsty Lady Miranda"

"I'm aware, now are you both ready?"

Nunatak nodded. Hitikori, grabbed Nunatak's hand and then nodded as well.

A cyclone of dark energy erupted around them. Rending time, space, and any other silly laws of the universe. The three scouts ended up teleporting to earth. Right in front of the crystal palace to be exact.

Miranda shook her head.

"This wasn't where we were supposed to arrive."

"We were supposed to arrive somewhere specific?", asked Nunatak.

"Yes", sighed Miranda.

Suddenly they heard screams. Civilians were running away and a sailor scout they didn't recognize was standing right in front them.

"Stop there evil doers! How dare you come to the cradle of humanity with the intention of taking energy from civilians. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Crystal tokyo is an utopian society and a very popular tourist destination. It has no room for scum like you!"

The three scouts started to look around. Where was the enemy? Were they invisible?

"What do you three have to say for yourselves?"

Oh, she was talking to them.

"I'm sailor Miranda and these are two sailor scouts from the edge. We've been summoned here. Not sure why yet."

The unknown sailor crossed her arms.

"A likely story. Of course falsified accounts are the bread and butter of infiltrators. I know what you are! Reveal yourselves Demons!"

"Wait, you think that we're-"

"Of course. What else would have the arrogance to move across the galaxy using dark energy in such a wasteful and showy display"

"It's not my fault dark energy is so inefficient. Unless you're a youma the conversion rate is terrible!", snapped Miranda.

"Ah ha! I knew it. Now I have an confession"

"But I never said-"

"You've said enough, now you are coming with me!"

"Fine"

Miranda put out her hands. The other two scouts followed her lead and did like ways. The unknown sailor approached them very carefully. Never taking her eyes off of Miranda who she no doubt assumed must be the arch daemon of the group.

The unknown sailor put out her hands then called out, "Lash of torment"

The scent of sulfur permeated the air and a fleshy vine like projection faded into existence. The unknown sailor then smiled and with a flick of her wrist one end of the rope leapt out and bound itself around the neck of sailor Miranda.

"As you already know", said the mysterious sailor with a grin, "the more you struggle the tighter this gets. Feel free to experiment if you get forgetful"

Miranda took a deep breath and tried ignore the sensation of something writhing against her skin. Did this sailor really have to use this? Wouldn't handcuffs have worked?

Today just wasn't her day.


	2. Call me Admiral

So any ways Miranda was about ready to pull this girls head off. Except she was obviously a sailor scout. Also she was only doing her job. Maybe teleporting to crystal tokyo using dark energy wasn't such a good idea after all.

The unknown sailor dragged them up the steps towards the gates of the crystal palace. Miranda thought about reminding her how stupid it was to bring an enemy to where their Queen was. But it was frankly easier not to. Not to mention this would be a great opportunity to explain what happened to a reasonable authority figure.

When the doors opened Miranda stopped breathing. Not because the fleshy vine around her neck was strangling her. Although she did find it rather uncomfortable. But because of just how beautiful, grand, and expansive the palace was. Wow, it actually looked bigger on the inside!

Sailor Jerk Ass caught her staring and yanked on the rope.

"Come on worm, this wasn't meant for your eyes"

Keep calm, deep breaths, deep breaths. It's not their fault. Just following orders is all. Just following orders.

They marched past rooms of unimaginable beauty, massive ballrooms, and advanced laboratories. Miranda was starting to wonder whether their captor was leading them to their doom or trying to give them a grand tour.

"I bet you don't have anything like this were you're from daemon. You've probably never seen anything like it"

"You are right. The crystal palace does look much better then the last time I visited"

The unknown sailor glared back at her.

Miranda tried to play innocent. She even started whistling nonchalantly. Until that is, her captor yanked the chain again.

"Keep up daemon. Wouldn't want to be late for your own execution"

"Or yours", mumbled Miranda.

Uncalled for, yes. Childish, yes. Exactly what she'd wanted to say for the past half hour, yes yes and yes.

By the time they reached the throne room the unnamed sailor was practically frothing at the mouth. The throne room was empty. Well, almost empty.

A well aged man was standing in the large room. The brass on his uniform was shining. His eyes reflected nothing but boredom as deep as the sea and endless as the void.

"Ah, M2. What a surprise. You brought guests?"

"Yes I did. And don't call me that!"

"Would you rather have me call you by your civilian name?"

"Yes! But, no. Not in front of them. These are demons. Vile enemies of the queen"

Admiral Sakurada walked towards them.

"I can only assume you brought them here because of their peculiar signatures."

He glanced over at sailor Nunatak, "Dark energy if I'm not mistaken"

The old man then turned his attention back to the unknown scout, " It would also be safe to assume that your mother must have neglected the edge planets in her description of the galaxy. Other wise you would be know that some planets generate dark energy. Such as Nunatak. Of course you might know it by another name . . . hmmm, that F***ing diplomatic nightmare I believed Pluto calls it"

M2, the unknown sailor, still kept her firm grip on the rope.

The admiral pretended not to notice this and turned his attention to the other scout in Miranda's retinue.

"My, my, what interesting company our prisoner keeps. Sailor Hitokiri. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Why if our little dolls mother ever got her hands on you-"

Mercury 2, M2, the unknown sailor glared at him.

Finally Admiral Sakurada, the know it all, made their way to Miranda.

"But you my dear are a mystery. I've never seen a sailor quite like you"

"I'm Sailor Miranda. You sent for me, remember!"

The admiral nodded.

"That is correct. I remember now. If memory serves I asked Rini if we had any reliable, efficient, and expendable scouts who were ready to serve the Queen on a dangerous mission. Eventually I ended up contacting you"

Miranda nodded emphatically.

"Yes, that's right. Now would you please get this thing off of me!"

The admiral shrugged.

"M2, feel free to make our guests more comfortable"

The unknown scout made a strange hand gesture. The fleshy rope disappeared.

Miranda started rubbing her neck. Not the worst thing to happen to her but still.

"Uh, thanks. Now would you please explain why you brought us here?"

" I need you for a commercial"

"Crazy man say What?"

Sakurada just smiled.

"You three are going to take part in a beach party scene. Oh, and you'll have to wear this."

The admiral pulled out three bikini suits that were more or less just pieces of string.

Miranda turned around to gauge the others reactions. Nunatak was smiling.

"Hitokiri, the bag now!"

Their brave leader tore the bag from her grasp and started to dry heave.

Fifteen minutes later Miranda finally came to a stop. Every one else had apparently been staring at her the whole time. Today was just sparkles and rainbows, wasn't it?


	3. Sailors Don't surf

The Sailors were at the beach, All of them.

Some where amidst this massive power surge were four unfortunate scouts.

Miranda wasn't too happy about all this. Every other scout she could see was wearing a normal swimwear. Except for M2 who was wearing trunks and a rash guard. Suddenly Miranda felt twice as self-conscious about their Admiral issued strings.

"Are you guys okay with this?"

Hitikori smiled weakly, "It is not my place to question a superior"

"Okay, but don't you think-"

Miranda stopped herself the second she looked over at the green eyed scout standing next to her. The Pale skinned Sailor was shaking violently with excitement.

"I've never seen this much sun before!"

Nunatak then plowed through every scout ahead of her and cannon balled into the ocean. Her shrieks of joy audible over all else.

"You know", said M2 who was currently right behind Miranda, " this many scouts in one place would certainly make an attractive target for an enemy"

"Not today", said Hitikori.

M2 and Miranda both looked towards the normally unassuming scout.

Hitikori averted her gaze from them and explained, " We were hired to protect this gathering. Tengu twin seat fighters are stationed two clicks away, Keaton personnel carriers have been hidden in local shopping malls and are fully loaded with troops, also over 60,000 troops have been spread out all over the surrounding area. By order of Queen Serenity of course"

M2 furrowed her eyebrows, "What is she talking about?"

"I think", responded Miranda, "That she's saying the Hitikori corporation has been subcontracted to provide addition security for this event."

"Oh", responded M2.

Any ways that's when the gunshots started. One way or another Sailor Nunatak had gotten her hands on a Fusile Mle 2147 rifle and was using it to shoot down seagulls. This did not end well.

The whole gathering lost their collective Shit. Every one started pointing their powers at each other and some one told the camera women to start recording too early. Which resulted in the largest beach party brawl in history being broadcast across the galaxy.

M2 and Miranda were back to back. Hitikori had mysteriously disappeared. Large portions of the beach were getting obliterated and Personnel carriers started appearing out of nowhere.

Everything was blur. Things got ugly in the ensuing melee. M2 was holding her own but Miranda was fighting for her life. Even without using their powers the other scouts were a nightmare to face. A worrier is still a worrier no matter what they wear or how much spray tan they have on.

The brawl dragged on for forever. By the end of it all Miranda and M2 were sleeping back to back. Beating your allies senseless sure was hard work.

Thus ended yet another wonderful day in the life of Miranda.


	4. Curtain of Stars

In the after math of the beach brawl every one was looking for a scapegoat. So they blamed the Hitikori corporation. No payment was made towards the sprawling mega corp and Sailor Hitikori has yet to recover from been chastised by Queen serenity herself.

In the mean time Miranda had been sent back home and Nunatak had been informed her planet was now a protectorate of crystal Tokyo. Which means no one would dare invade their planet, which means they would lose a valuable food source, and that means her people would go hungry.

M2 hadn't gotten out of all this scott free either. She'd been ordered to place Sailor Nunatak under protective custody to help "educate" her on proper etiquette. The admiral recommended shock treatment with Jupiter. M2 however decided to just take her somewhere quiet and talk this out.

"I understand you tried to shoot down some seagulls"

"Sorry about that, I thought the other scouts might be hungry"

"And it didn't occur to you the others might respond erratically to gun shots"

"Aren't we all resistant to small arms fire?"

M2 thought for a minute. She'd heard stories about how Neptune was able to resist .50 cal fire and that some sailors had exhibited amazing resilience to enemy attacks. However her mother had been too busy working on medical and transport based advancements to even think of such trivial details.

"It's a bit dangerous to make hasty over generalizations. Like when I assumed that you were a demon"

Nunatak nodded.

" You weren't the first and you won't be the last."

M2 took a good long look at the soldier from the edge. They were trying so hard to smile. Yet the unknown sailor could see through all that.

"It doesn't matter", responded M2, "You fight for the Queen. What else matters?"

Nunatak looked up at the sky. Fully aware that her planet was hidden behind a curtain of stars.

"Yeah, what else matters?"


	5. Abomination

Her eyes were half shut, she was strapped to a hospital bed, and time wasn't moving slow enough.

Hitikori was lost in the depths of her own mind. So many voices fighting for control, she couldn't . . . she couldn't - but oh yes she could.

A power surge ran up and down her body, vaporizing her restraints. Another surge went off and she shed her hospital gown. The clothing of a sailor replaced it. She was a Sailor. Her name was Sailor Hitikori.

Some of the hospital staff didn't react so positively to her new found confidence. They called security. When they arrived Hitikori danced pass them. Blurred flesh was all the humans saw when she decided to stop playing games. Hitikori was gone.

The errant scout made it all the way to the entrance before something stopped her. Something along the lines of 40,000 volts that is. One of the Queens stooges must have placed a barrier at the hospitals gate. No doubt it was keyed to her specific signature.

Brought down to her knees. How typical, would the Queen want to remind her of a ladies proper place as well?

Hitikori chuckled darkly as she rose back to her full height. The Queen would of course never say something like that to her. No, the right word would be a subject's proper place.

A hundred or two hundred years ago their was a sense of equality among the populace of crystal tokyo. Yet with expansion came the need for order. With order came the need to maintain the status quo. The requirement of that was of course having power over others.

Sailor Hitikori knew full well that she was nothing more then a product of this struggle. With out the Queens expansive policies her mother might never have felt threatened. If she didn't feel threatened then she wouldn't have needed a weapon. She wouldn't have needed her.

Simple cause and effect. That's all it was.

Take a step forward. Fall back down. Cause, residue from the Queens magic coalescing through your fragile body. Effect, pain and helplessness.

Hitikori tried to get back up. She couldn't. Only a matter of time before the orderlies found her. Only a matter of time before she was strapped back to that bed.

Figures. She was born in a facility. Why shouldn't she die in one?

* * *

Where were the straps? Where was the staff? She couldn't sense a thing.

Her eyes flew open. She screamed. Drenched in sweat, unsure, and ever so afraid.

Hitikori's mind was racing. She couldn't move. Why couldn't she-

"Calm down, you're safe now"

She recognized that voice. The unknown sailor.

The lights came on. Hitikori realized why she couldn't move. There was a heavy blanket on top of her. Some one must have tucked her in tight while she was unconscious. Hitikori wasn't in a hospital any more. This was some ones room.

She looked around a bit. As weak as she was it wasn't too much effort to move her eyes.

The walls were stark white and the room was fairly open. A few posters were up. Some were scientific diagrams of what appeared to DNA. Others appeared to be related to human anatomy. Yet one thing on the wall stood out from all the others. Hitikori couldn't say for certain, but it kind of looked like a blue haired woman in a lab coat?

"I see you've spotted the photograph", commented M2.

The unknown sailor came out from behind Hitikori and took a seat at the end of the bed.

"Nunataks been sent home. Now its my job to take care of you"

Hitikori's eyes flew wide open. M2 tried not to notice. She just kept on talking with the other sailor as she waited for an end that would never come.

"Did you know, I was born right here. Of course this wasn't always a room. It used to be part of a research facility."

That got Hitikori's attention pretty quick. M2 however didn't seem to notice. She was too busy staring at the picture on the wall.

"My mother never could do everything she wanted. Crystal Tokyo needed her. She couldn't be in two places at once."

Mercury 2's voice started to drop.

"Unless . . . unless I happened"

The bed started to shake a bit. Neither of them wanted to point it out though. The unknown sailor would obviously never tremble just from telling a story. She was too strong for that.

"Everything went wrong. My mother escaped unharmed. The subject though was corrupted. The experiment was a total failure. Ordinarily the lab would be purged and any evidence eliminated. It wasn't, I wasn't."

M2 still hadn't looked away from that picture frame.

"An artificial star seed. Can you imagine what the potential for that could have been? Imagine how many life's could be saved if we could create soldiers. One scout per astrological object just isn't enough. Our forces were overwhelmed. Something had to change"

Her whole body was shaking now. Nothing to be done. Tears were leaking out.

"I can see why her real daughter hates me. I can see why every one else hates me too. If I didn't have to fight then even I'd hate myself. Necessary evil, wouldn't you say?"

Alice's body stopped shaking. Failed experiment or not she still had some one who cared. As long as Ami loved her it would be all right. She had so many names. Civilian, military, unofficial, but what she didn't understand was that Hitikori only had one.

M2, Alice, couldn't imagine what Hitikori had been through. Yet in the bigger scheme of things maybe that didn't matter. Because she still cared.

M2 got up to leave the room and turn off the lights. Right before she flipped the switch, Alice looked back one last time.

"Goodnight, Hitikori"

The lights went out. The door opened and closed. It was dark now, it was quiet now, and Hitikori could finally sleep. The unknown scout sure had been acting strange towards her. Amongst all the uncertainty one detail haunted Hitikori's mind.

Was that what love looked like?

* * *

 **AN:** Hey, um, just a heads up. This whole story is based off of a series of PM's sent to TheElephantInThePrideParade. They gave me the idea's, read the short "Chapters", and well it turned into this. Oh, and I got the Name M2 from a Ranma 1/2 fanfic called The Fist of the Moon by Penguin-Sa. That fan fic was awesome! Oh, and the work of TheElephantInThePrideParade is awesome too!


End file.
